Gatekeepers Book 2: Galeforce
Chapter 5: Blackfire

“Was it really necessary to change the mantle so much?” Draycos asked Vertex with mixed emotions as he looked at the modified mantle he held in his hands.

It was the day after Boreta had changed Draycos’s pendant into a magic focus, and Draycos and Vertex were in the same room at the coliseum that Draycos had been put in during the first day of the games. Early afternoon sunlight fell past the barred gate on the outer wall as Draycos sat on the bench set against the wall while Vertex leaned his back against the wall next to the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Draycos continued to gaze at the mantle that Vertex just returned to him. It had been taken away immediately following Draycos’s first match, so he hadn’t been expecting to see it again.

Vertex grunted. “I wasn’t made aware of the fact that this mantle was being modified,” he responded, scratching the back of his head. “I must say, though, that I’m not exactly sure how to feel about it now...”

“You’re not the only one,” Draycos agreed. “This is a little much.”

The mantle had originally been a plain black mantle with a silver dragon head button that fastened at the base of Draycos’s throat, but it was now more like a heavy winter jacket. Long black sleeves had been added, and each of the wrist cuffs had fur trims of what appeared to be wolf fur in various shades of white and grey. A high collar that reached up to Draycos’s ears hung loosely around the neckline, and a black hood was attached to the mantle inside of the collar. A dark grey cross-like pattern extended from the collar to each shoulder and continued down the length of the sleeves. Two additional silver dragon head buttons had been attached farther down the length of the mantle. It even came with a brown leather belt with a silver buckle in the same dragon head shape as the buttons on the mantle.

A new pair of boots had been provided with the mantle and belt, as well. They were of the same design as Draycos’s current pair, except they were black in color, and more of the wolf fur lined the top of each boot.

Draycos sighed, shaking his head as he tried to recognize this bizarre fashion design for the simple piece of cloth it had been before. “How the hell am I supposed to wear it like this?” he asked, holding it up in the air. “It’s so damn gaudy. And why am I supposed to be wearing a jacket in the middle of summer?”

Vertex sighed. “There’s a spell worked into the fabric that’ll keep you cool even if you wear it in mid-summer. Also, I think you’ll be surprised to hear this, but it was actually the king who recommended the changes made to it.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Draycos groaned. “Who knew he had such a tacky sense of fashion?”

This was when Vertex would normally smack Draycos with his tail or something like that, but he merely nodded. “Hence the reason why I advised him to not wear clothing of his own design anymore. Now he rarely wears anything, but that doesn’t mean much to a dragon.”

Are you shitting me right now!? He won’t wear clothing unless it’s something he designed himself? It’s surprising how much of a brat Theravor is.

“Ow!” Draycos yelped. Vertex had smacked him atop his head with his tail, a stern expression on his face. Draycos glared at him.

“What was that for!?”

“You were just thinking that the king is a brat or something along those lines, weren’t you?”

It’s scary how much he can predict my thoughts after only a little more than two months.

Sighing, Draycos stood from the bench and slipped the mantle-now-jacket onto his body. “Guess I don’t really have a choice in the matter, do I?” he asked as he buckled the belt around his waist on the outside of the mantle. The rest of the jacket hanging below the belt fluttered around freely in the light breeze blowing through the gate. Draycos sat down and changed his boots, stuffing his pants legs into the shoes before standing up once more, exchanging a look with Vertex. He spread his arms wide so the dragon could take a good look at him. “How does it look?”

Vertex snorted. “Honestly, it’s not as bad as I was expecting it to be, considering it was Theravor who asked for the modifications to be done,” he admitted. “Just lose the fur and I might actually think it looks cool.”

A slight smile ran across Draycos’s face before his expression became serious again. “So, I’m in the next match, right?”

“Correct,” Vertex responded, nodding. “The match-ups in the first round are decided at random. But after the first round is completed, matches are set up in the tournament-bracket style based on the order the matches went in during the first round. Ordinarily, you would have been fighting in the first match of every round since you were in the very first match of the tournament, but Theravor used his position to have it shifted to the last match this round to provide you with as much time as he could give so you could work on training with your magic. However, this is a one-time event; he won’t be able to pull any more strings for you from this point onward. The rest is up to you if you want to come out on top of the games.”

Just then, a loud sound from a gong being struck rang through the air, signaling the end of the current match.

“That’s the end of that match, everyone!” the MC’s voice echoed throughout the coliseum. The second to last match of the second round in this year’s Prisoners’ Games has come to a conclusion! Let’s not waste any time now and move onto the last match already! I don’t think I’m the only one excited for this fight; how about the rest of you!?”

The crowd roared as chains began clanking loudly in Draycos and Vertex’s surroundings.

“Be careful,” Vertex advised Draycos as the gate began to open. “Your opponent this time is a fully grown dragon. The rest of your matches are likely to be fought against dragons as well, for that matter, so you aren’t going to be able to beat them without a solid plan.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know that already,” Draycos replied breezily, turning around as he walked to the gate, raising his right hand in the air as a farewell to Vertex. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“You’re rather calm about this, aren’t you?” Vertex observed. “Do you already have a workable plan?”

Draycos stopped just beyond the gate. He looked over his shoulder at Vertex and gave a big smile as the gate began to fall.

“That’s something you’ll have to wait and see. This tournament is mostly for entertaining the crowds, isn’t it?”

The gate hit the ground with a loud thud, and Draycos was cut off from the room. Vertex shook his head in mild amazement as Draycos turned around and continued on his way out into the arena.

That cheeky kid sure is something else. It’s no wonder the king favors him so much; they're birds of a feather.

Draycos walked out to the middle of the arena, where his opponent was already waiting for him. It was a dragon that walked on all four legs and was covered in dark brown scales from head to toe. His underbelly scales and wing skin were sandstone-grey. and a great rack of horns sat atop his head. His yellow eyes watched Draycos’s approach with great attention as his tail twitched periodically, like a cat stalking a mouse.

Draycos glanced up at the two orbs floating overhead that displayed the stats and crimes of the prisoners currently in the arena. He noticed that his magic score had been updated, replacing the zero previously in that spot with a four, making his total fifteen. His opponent’s name was apparently Falmento or something like that, and each of his scores were all four, with a total score of twenty. These scores couldn’t be compared evenly with one another, though, as each prisoner was scored using their native race’s standards. This dragon’s talent was apparently above average compared to the dragon race as a whole.

Draycos reached his destination and looked up at the dragon towering above him with a blank expression on his face, hands stuffed in the pockets of his mantle.

“I hope you know how to handle pain, you brat,” the dragon growled, extending his front talons out so they carved up the ground. “Otherwise, this isn’t going to be a very entertaining match.”

“Shut it,” Draycos snapped. “Save the trash talk for after the fight. It’s a waste of breath otherwise.”

Falmento’s eyebrows shot up upon hearing this, and he glared ferociously at Draycos while a low growl rumbled deep in his throat.

“Looks like the prisoners are itching to start already!” the MC yelled. “Let’s not keep them and ourselves waiting any longer! Let the final match of the second round begin!!”

As soon as the gong was struck, Falmento opened his maw as wide as possible. A black inferno spewed from his mouth, and before Draycos had any time to react, the flames engulfed his entire body. The whole coliseum vibrated when the sea of black flames hit the ground.

The flames ceased their flow from Falmento’s mouth, and he cracked a toothy grin as he observed the flames before him. “Good luck getting out of that alive, brat!” he snarled. “My Blackfire flames even reduce bones to ashes!”

Up in the top box, Vinzgar shook his head in disappointment from his throne. “Looks like the brat already kicked the bucket,” he growled. “We’re going to have to disqualify Falmento from the tournament and ban him from participating in future events.”

“Shut up, Vinzgar!” Zero snapped. Worry was evident throughout his expression as he glared at the scarred dragon. “Is that all you have to say about this situation? Draycos could very well be dead after being hit by those flames!”

“What was that?” Vinzgar growled, returning the glare at full force.

“Theravor...” Boreta whispered in a hushed voice as the other two dragons continued to bicker with one another. “Are you sure you should just be sitting in your throne right now?”

“It’s fine,” Theravor answered. He was clearly unconcerned by what just occurred as he lounged in his throne. “There’s no way Draycos was done in by that. Just keep watching.”

Thick black smoke billowed up into the air from where the black inferno continued to blaze. Things continued like this for a few seconds before something cloaked in the smoke broke off from the rest of the smoke cloud and landed on the ground a short distance away. After the smoke cleared away from the object, it turned out that it was Draycos standing there, appearing unharmed except for a few singe marks here and there.

“I gotta say, thanks for that fire, Falmento,” he calmly stated as he tugged on the cuff of his right sleeve. Falmento was too shocked for words, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Draycos. “You did me a favor with that attack; you burned that stupid wolf fur off this jacket and the boots. Now I don’t feel too embarrassed walking around in this getup.”

Falmento continued to stare for a few more seconds before he managed to compose himself. A sly grin cracked across his face as he chuckled. “Well, I’m impressed that you didn’t get devoured by my flames. Not many people can claim to have achieved that. However, do you think my Blackfire is only capable of producing flames just to incinerate my victims?”

“Oh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s too late for you, anyways,” Falmento snickered. “You’re about to find out.”

A small section of the ground right at Draycos’s feet cracked slightly. Draycos looked down just in time to see a bony hand burst out of the ground and grab his ankle.

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